Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Buying Beats Online


    Buying rap beats online is quickly growing and it’s great to use the internet to bring talented producers and artists from different parts of the world together. However, like with any game, there are some players who do things right, and others who don’t. We’ve therefore compiled this simple list of tips for buying rap beats online in order to help aspiring artists out there pick the right website/producers to work with.

We now have six years experience selling rap beats online through our website, www.RawHeatz.com and we hope that these tips will prove useful to you!

1. Music Licenses – Understand them

Know the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive licenses. An exclusive license will grant you the exclusive (hence the name) right to use the beats for your projects.

A non-exclusive license will give you the right to use the beat for your musical projects, however the producer retains the right to sell the beat to other artists too.

2. Music Licenses – Know which one to buy

Exclusive licenses can be expensive, but essential if you’re looking to commercially release an album. If you’re however recording a demo or mixtape, a non-exclusive license is fine, however make sure you check with the producer what rights you get as these will vary from site to site.

3. Prices, don’t pay too much!

Owners of beat sites often get carried away by their big ego’s and will charge inflated prices for standard beats.

A rough guideline for prices follows:

Non-Exclusive Licenses - $15 - $50

Exclusive Licenses - $100 - $1000

Of course, the above prices depend on the producer’s popularity and talent. However, we would not recommend paying more than $1000 for an exclusive license bought online from someone you have never met in person.

4. Websites, only buy from trusted ones

Any proper online business will make sure they have a trustworthy image. Therefore make sure that the site you’re buying from has at least one or two of these:

- Full contact details, phone number, email, mailing address

- Privacy Policy


5. Look for trust symbols

On top of the above, the website should also have third party trust symbols. These are certifications from other companies that prove the website is trustworthy and not fraudulent.

Some symbols to look for are:

- BBB Certification

- Paypal Verified

- Shopping reviews

- Hacker Safety Certifications

- Antivirus Safety Certifications

Also make sure these symbols link through to another page that explains what they mean and how the website in question fits the criteria.

6. Email the site and check if they reply

Crazy, but certain beat sites will not bother doing this. Would you want to do business with someone who doesn’t care about talking to you?

Also, this will prove that the website is a serious online business with a team of human beings running it properly.

7. Look for testimonials

This is not essential, but it’s always good if you can see that others have dealt with the site before and have been satisifed with their beats.

8. Avoid producers who only use a Soundclick/MySpace page to sell beats

A domain name costs less than $15 a year, surely it’s not a good sign if someone doesn’t even have the money to buy that and set up their own independent website?

9. Search for the site on Google

This is a quick easy way to check a site’s reputation. Do any bad comments show up, or anything else unusual?

10. Is the site alive?

Does anyone update it or is it dead? We’re all very busy making beats, but adding some small updates once in a while is within everyone’s reach. Therefore look for blog posts, new beat uploads and even small updates such as changing the current year noted on the site!

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How to Be a True Hip Hop Artist

Here are a few concepts, or in other words, the main way on how to be a true hip-hop artist.

Steps

  1. Have your own style. Be unique.
  2. Here's some styles that you can merge into your own.
    • Southside (It consists of rapping fast and sharp. The beats are juicy and unique).
    • Eastcoast (It consists of rapping strong and powerful. The beats consist of samples, scratches and ambiance).
    • Westcoast ( It consists of rapping loud and slow, the beats are heavy bassed, instrumental based and have lots of bass drops)
    • Midwest ( It consists of rapping gentle and tender, the beats have jazz samples, synthesizers).
  3. Think of rapping as boxing and you are a boxer, each style is a different fighting technique; use your style to take down the opponent. Your music is the fight, each line is a Jab, the hook is the hook, the chorus is the fury and the Outro is the KO.
  4. Write your own lyrics. Don't take other people's lyrics or styles.

Tips

  • Think the unthinkable, make your music unexpected and a original flow
  • Use older (90's and back) soul/funk/disco music as your creativity such as The Ojay's, Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, Roy Ayers and Elektrik Funk. The less known by today's people, the more unique it is.
  • You can be from the middle class and still be able to rap creatively. You don't have to from the hood to be good. Look at the Fugees, and a lotta other artists. Don't underestimate yourself because of where you come from.

Warnings

  • Don't lie, be a poser, or pretend to be something you're not. Remember what happened to Vanilla Ice.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Be a True Hip Hop Artist. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.



How to Make Pro Hip Hop/Rap Beats

Hey, I've been making music for a little while now and I've been able to generate a steady income from it. But when I began I had no idea where to start. I searched and search through pages and pages of Google to find some help but I couldn't find anything but advertisements. So now I've decided to help someone else out and write a in-depth how to on making beats.

Steps

  1. Find drums that already have bump to them. Find a kick that has punch and one that has thump and layer them, then if your making southern music put a grimey 808 under that.
  2. Rap/Hip Hop music is all about 2 things: bump and feel. Change up your patterns until you are completely satisfied. Try moving to it, try to imagine what it would feel like if you were in a club.
  3. As you start to add your instruments, keep going back and playing with your drums. Change up the hi hat pattern or even the sound, add some 808 snares, make sure your transitions are flawless.
  4. Music is an art form, it creates a feeling. As a producer you are trying to create this feeling. Its not something you have to make up, you know it already from listening to your favorite music.
  5. Don't just add your instruments and leave them, play with them, add reverb and delays, if you have rhodes add a chorus. Do everything within your power to fill the feel of the beat your making. If you can get the feel, then whatever you put in the beat will turn to diamond.
  6. Last but no where near least is....BE RELEVANT!! Stop living in the past, artists want beats like the ones they hear on the radio, they want singles and you have to cater to that if you want to make sales.

Tips

  • As a producer you are a painter of sorts. Take elements that already exist and bring them together to make something new, you don't have to rack your brain over how your gonna make good music.. a lot of it is scientific.
  • Go back and listen to the music you grew up on, but listen to it differently. Break it down, listen to the instruments, try to put yourself in the producers shoes and listen to what feel he was trying to accomplish at the time...was it a simple pop record, was it soul, funk, jazz. Take it all in, even the riffs and melodies. You will start to notice similarities.
  • Also listen to the mix, smash hits always have the same sound...Try to accomplish that at best you can.
  • Find some software that suits you.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Pro Hip Hop/Rap Beats. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.




What's the difference between Lease and Exclusive?



Leasing Rights:

Leasing rights give the music artist a certain amount of uses per lease. Once it runs out, the customer would need to buy another lease for the same beat. You can give out as many units as you can, it's really all up to you.
Another thing about leasing is that the producer can sell the beat to multiple artists, as long as nobody buys the exclusive rights to it. This can be very good for the producer because he won't have to take the beat off sale and make more money off of it.
It is a cheaper price for the artist, because this is meant for mixtapes and promos. Usually, you wouldn't want to lease a beat for albums; it would make much more sense to buy the exclusive rights because you don't want to hear another rapper have your beat in their album, too.
The producer usually would give out an MP3 version of it,with a lesser quality sound than the exclusive. This is because they don't want to give out the best quality sound, unless it was an exclusive. They deserve the better sounding material.

Exclusive Rights:

This gives the music artist sole ownership of the beat, and unlimited use of it as well. The producer cannot sell this to anybody else and must take it down from sale.
An exclusive beat will be more expensive in price because the artist gets full ownership, and can do whatever he pleases to the instrumental.
The producer will give out a high quality version of beat, including an MP3 and WAV form as well. Also, they may give you a tracked-out version of the beat so that you can easily mix your vocals into it. This will make it easier for the artist to make the song turn out well, because he can mix the vocals in the beat, and not just sit it on top.
You would usually use this for an album or something very serious like turning it to the record labels.
I hope you now know the differences between the two kinds of licenses, but let me know if you have any questions!
I have my own website here at: http://www.rawheatz.com If you need some hot beats, come and get it at my website, and you will thank me later that you did! Come to me if you ever need that hit single, because I know that it will get you to the top, so drop by!


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How to Write Lyrics to a Rap or Hip Hop Song

Are you an aspiring rapper looking to make a smash hit? Are you ready to surpass the footsteps of Tupac Shakur, Nas, Well then, you're in the right spot.

Steps

  1. The first thing you want to do is prepare your mind to deliver your lyrics title for your song. The subject may be something that has recently happened, something that has happened in the past, something your thinking about. It may be a dance type of a song, a song where you talk about yourself, or it may even be something that has happened in a dream. You of course want the Title to match the subject of your song(sometimes that may not work). If you can't think of one, write the rap out first, then choose an appropriate title.
  2. After you have done that you might want to think up a Hook/Chorus for your song. It can range from something very deep to something that's just catchy.
  3. After that you will want to find the beat for your song and make sure the hook goes with the beat and is put in the right places. Make sure that the beat you choose is one you're comfortable with. (for example if you cant rap very fast you don't want to choose a very fast beat because you won't be able to rap to it without losing your breath or stuttering and it won't sound good)
  4. Next you will want to start writing the verses to your song. Traditionally a rap song has 2-4 verses and each is 8, 12, or 16 bars long but you will need to see how many verses and bars your beat has to make it fit right. Writing the lyrics to a verse ranges from the type of rap artist you are. If you use a lot of punchlines (metaphors in rap music)you might want to think of the punchline first and then think of the word that comes before it (so if the punchline was "I'm stepping over competition so expect to be trampled" Think first of any line that would rhyme with that and my final result being "they see me in the booth so they know they should scramble/ I'm steppin' over competition so expect to be trampled"). If you're a rapper that raps with a lot of flow you may want to have every bar end with the same amount of syllables or almost the same amount of syllables. If you're a rapper that raps fast you may want to have little rhyming words in every bar like " the industries gettin' clean and I've seen what them hatas mean/ if you thought I was lettin' up setting up the terrain was dreamed". If you're a rapper that raps about stories you can have the first verse your intro, your second verse your problem, and your last verse your conclusion(you may have to change that if your song has more or less than 3 verses)
  5. Remember that you always want creativity in your music and you never want to go with radio or anyone else when you're writing your song. Make sure you mean every word and every word comes from your soul. Some rappers, such as myself, say that you don't write about a specific thing. Let the music come to you. To start writing good lyrics, you should throw on a beat that juices your brain and you automatically start thinking of some insane rhymes. It's all about the state of mind.

Tips

  • Never steal lines or you will lose lots of respect in the future
  • Try not to swear a lot or say any offensive terms like the 'n' word if you want your music to be heard by big audiences.
  • Always be real in your music (for example never say you're gonna shoot up the block with your gat, if you don't even own a gun).
  • Always listen to more and more rappers and their music to hear different styles and help you think of different ideas.
  • Always give full effort to your music and push it 100%.
  • Remember that after its all said and done it's music it's not just a way to think you're cool or diss someone.
  • Writing songs come at different times sometimes you might take you an entire month to write a new song as to sometimes you can write two in one day.

Warnings

  • Never excessively use racial slurs like the 'n' word. Just don't.
  • Your songs may be turned down or even laughed at but never let that stop you from doing what you do.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write Lyrics to a Rap or Hip Hop Song. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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How to Become a Hip Hop Music Producer

Rapping is very lucrative business, but hip hop producers work behind the scenes, creating instrumental tracks for a record company, or just for fun. There are many types of producers, but they all follow the same basic steps.

Steps

  1. Love hip hop. The industry is tough and ruthless, and without a deep love for the game you will never be good or famous.
  2. Learn about music. This is a never-ending process, so don't ever think you're "done" at any point. Learn about all different styles of music, not just modern hip hop. Learn the roots, the theory and the great musicians for many different genres. No style should be neglected, not even country.
  3. Determine what equipment you will need. This is a very complicated step, as there are infinite combinations of hardware and software. I would recommend FL Studio's demo version of their production software, if you wish to try production out with paying any money. If you're sampling, be sure to think of how you will access your samples (ie turntable, computer, etc). If you're more interested in composing with synths and virtual instruments, a MIDI keyboard is an excellent investment.
  4. Experiment. Set up a easy kick-highhat-snare-highhat track, and mess around with playing notes over the beats. This should be a period for getting familiar with your equipment. It will take about a month at the very least to acquire real skill with your equipment
  5. Start refining your beats. Read the manual and begin using the Google search waaayy too much. Learn about EQ, effects and quantization, and begin to use them.
  6. When you've got other people nodding their heads to your music, start promoting yourself. Use sites such as rocbattle.com, soundclick.com, givemebeats.net, and cdbaby.com to your advantage. Look up rappers, local or just on the internet, and see if you can produce a mixtape.

Video



Tips

  • Don't limit yourself: know the four elements of hip hop. Breakdancing, rapping, graffiti and turntablism.
  • Learning to beatbox will help to compose beats anywhere.
  • Make sure you volume each instrument correctly. Louder is not necessarily better.
  • If you like old school hip-hop make your snare a few notes lower or use vintage sounds such as 808 kits.
  • Watch tutorial videos on YouTube.
  • EQ will make or break an only OK track.
  • Don't be a hater. As a producer, beef will not earn you any respect.
  • Study successful producers. It sounds corny, but sit down with your top 25 or 50 instrumental tracks, and take notes as to why they are so appealing.
  • Try everything. Nothing is "wrong". If people like it, or even if only you like it, its "right".
  • Recommended software: FL Studio, Cool Edit Pro, Logic, Reason, Ableton Live, Audacity.
  • Recommended hardware: MPC series, Korg synthesizers, MIDI keyboards, Technics turntables, professional production headphones and studio monitors.

Warnings

  • Don't expect to make a living out of this unless your willing to work the hardest you have ever worked in your life. It's not an easy market to enter into, unless you are very determined and will not give up easily you might remember might just make it---it is a crowded market.
  • Don't get discouraged by critics.
  • Don't develop an ego; it embarrasses you in the long run.
  • And keep at it. If you are sure this is a passion you wish to develop, then make a way to integrate it into your life until it is mature enough to be where you want it.
  • The software for FL Studio is (about) 200MB, and it is well worth the price. An outstanding program, especially for creative users. You can develop your skills to make a sturdy tool out of it.
  • Do not ask a question about how to do something without reading the manual or searching the internet first. Hip hop producers will be very helpful if you follow this one rule.

Things You'll Need

  • Either production software (FL Studio, Reason, Ableton, Logic) or hardware (MIDI keyboard, MPC (any variant))
  • A manual for above product that you've read at least twice
  • Music. Lots of it. Which you know by heart.
  • A Hip Hop Production Course.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Become a Hip Hop Music Producer. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.




How to Buy Hip Hop Beats for Sale

Buying hip hop beats online can be confusing if you are not aware of the basics. There are many things you need to know in order not to get burned. You will learn how to purchase the best beats at the lowest prices.

Steps

  1. Learn the terms of the beat purchase. Most producers sell beats online by licensing, which means that they still hold rights to the beat.
  2. Learn the difference between non-exclusive and exclusive.
    • Exclusive license - there is no limit to what you can do with the beat. You can include the beat on a for profit album, and sell unlimited copies without owing the producer royalties.
    • Non-exclusive licenses have many limitations. Most artists buy non-exclusive beats because they are cheaper. If they record a song with the beat that they like, they simply contact the producer to work out terms on buying the beat exclusively. Non exclusive beats are usually cheaper than exclusives.
  3. Purchase the beat by using PayPal, or another payment system. After paying for the beat, you should receive a link to download it. You should receive the link immediately after your purchase.

Tips

  • Buy beats non-exclusively to try them out. If you record something on the beat that you like, then you can buy it exclusively.
  • Make sure the sound quality of the beat is up to par.
  • Look for a producer that will give you good value for your money. Build a relationship with producers that give you value.
  • All exclusive beats give you the ability to own the beats and not pay any further royalties on that beat. This saves you money over buying a non exclusive beat.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Buy Hip Hop Beats for Sale. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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